Technology news

GUEST: The rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has attracted thousands of new users and investors, many of which are still at significant risk of losing their precious tokens to simple mistakes or hackers.
By taking three small precautionary steps, you can help keep yourself safe from mishandling and losing all your tokens, as well as assembling a line of defence from hackers all over the world.
1. Minimize the opportunity for human error
Ironically, the biggest threat to your precious to

GUEST: Researchers estimate we will speak to chatbots more than we speak to our spouses by 2020. Obviously, companies that implement chatbots are doing something right. However, businesses still have a hard time determining whether or not their bots are up to snuff. While there are plenty of effective chatbots on the market, there are also many that don’t quite meet consumers’ needs. So how do you measure the success of your chatbot?
This is the dilemma facing an

HTC is offering significant discounts on pre-paid Viveport subscriptions for Black Friday.
The largest discount for a 12-month pre-paid subscription offers access to 60 apps for $30. The plan is typically priced around $80. There’s also a $40 6-month plan with 30 apps and a $20 3-month plan with 15 apps. Those are both $20 off the normal subscriptions.
The deals are available from Nov. 22 through Nov. 27.
There are a fair number of apps that came to Steam first then jumped to Viv

GUEST: Over the past few years, the internet has evolved from a text-based medium to the new TV. Cisco estimates that video accounts for 69 percent of all internet traffic in 2017. When the next-generation wireless network, 5G, hits in 2019 and 2020, we can expect that number to grow as more consumers are able to enjoy high-bandwidth video on their mobile devices.
With that growth comes complexity, though. Today’s marketers have to grapple with variables like video length, placement strate

Germany’s telecommunication agency, the Bundesnetzagentur, has banned smartwatches for kids, and is asking parents to destroy them. According to Bleeping Computer, (via Gizmodo) the regulators have deemed smartwatches targeted at kids “prohibitive listening devices” and are asking parents to destroy any smartwatches their kids have and advising schools to pay closer attention to kids with them.
Germany is targeting the listening capabilities of smartwatches but strangely didn&r

I have a habit of losing my charger or forgetting to charge my devices. That’s why I like the idea behind the PowerWatch. Built by startup Matrix Industries, the PowerWatch is charged by your own body heat. As long as it is touching your skin, it needs no charge.
After almost six years of research, and a year after a successful Indiegogo campaign, Menlo Park, California-based Matrix Industries is shipping its PowerWatch. The technology behind the watch could pave the way for a new era of w

If your idea of trucker life comes from movies like Smokey and the Bandit or Convoy, you’re living in the past. Truckers have swapped their citizen band radios for tablets, smartphones, and apps. But that doesn’t mean they’ve completely abandoned the CB radio lingo of the glory days.Police officers are still called “Smokey,” Mack trucks are referred to as “Bulldogs,” and ambulances are known as “Band-Aid Buggies.” The lingo has changed since

Maybe winter is already taking its toll on you — have you checked? Short days, dry air, too many people in Burlington Coat Factory, all the interesting coffee flavors double in price. These things take a toll on the body.
Luckily, At Home With Amy Sedaris, a new Tuesday night TruTV show of which there are already five episodes available to watch, will help. I promise. Sedaris is best known for her starring role in cult classic in Strangers with Candy, her voice work on BoJack Horseman, her

To many, rocket science may seem like an impenetrable concept that’s just too difficult to understand, but a new book argues otherwise, aiming to break down the basic concepts behind spaceflight — to children.The new book is appropriately titled Rocket Science, and it was written by Andrew Rader, an aerospace engineer at SpaceX, as well as an avid author and game designer. The story is complete with easy-to-follow descriptions and graphics of space travel, explaining what is needed t

HTC Vive is launching its consumer push for Vive Trackers with accessory bundles and support on the way from a series of software developers.
The highly anticipated accessory can enhance immersion while wearing an HTC Vive by bringing in physical objects like guns or sports rackets — or even your full body –and representing them all accurately in the virtual world. To date, most VR developers represent only the hands or head in their software because those are the only things that ca

GUEST: It’s likely you have multiple interactions with AI that you aren’t even aware of on a daily basis. Artificial intelligence has embedded itself in some of the most widely used consumer technologies on the planet without many consumers even noticing. So it should come as no surprise that artificial intelligence is infusing modern office spaces with enhanced capabilities. Business-focused AI will take the boss-employee relationship in an interesting direction, and the transf

Do Not Feed the Monkeys preys on the fear that drives people to put tape over their webcams. In it, you’re tapped into surveillance cameras that spy on different locations and people going about their lives. But developer Fictiorama Studios did not necessarily mean to make it dark or dystopian. The studio describes it as a “digital voyeur simulator” that lets you peek into other lives and sometimes affect them. It’s slated for a PC release in early 2018 with pos